legally where do we stand if our dog gets into neighbours garden and makes a mess

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hi all, just wondered if anyone knew where we stood legally if our dogs where to get into the neighbours garden and create havoc,

both neighbours insist that the fences are ours and they both need some repairs, we are not adverse to paying for new fences but we know they cant both be ours so once we find out (somehow ) which side is ours we will be putting in new fence and with if any funds left over we dont mind coming to an arrangement with the other neighbour to get the fencing done but in the mean time hypothetically if the dogs were to ruin anything where do we stand.

by the way the dogs do have thier own enclosed run so this hopefully should never happen (last famous words lol )

notlongnow_2

It will say in your house deeds which side you are responsible for. I do think though that if you are the neighbour with dogs then it is also your responsibility to make sure your dogs are contained to your land only, wether in their run or on the garden.

Im not anti-dog, I like them. But I would be mightily unimpressed if a neighbours dog was digging or messing for example on my land where my children play. After all, its not law to have a fence, there are other ways, but if you have dogs then i do think that you should be paying for both if theres a chance they would get out of their run, and im pretty sure you would liable if they were to get out and dig up the neighbours winter pansies..lol.

ben500

Firstly you could be responsible for both fences, there is nothing to say you can't, a good guideline is to see which side of the fence or wall the support posts or piers are, this is the side of responsibility.

You may well have neighbours either side but it isn't automatic that you are only responsible for one side of the property for example both fences may have been erected in the past by a previous owner of your property and within the boundaries of that property this makes the fence your responsibility irrespective of what side of the property it is on, you should consult your deeds and then check to see if the fences are within your boundary or not.


I would agree with notlong that as you have the dogs that need to be retained then the responsibility and cost of that should fall on your shoulders.

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yes our dogs are contained in thier run which is farly large and are only allowed in the garden with me or husband and children when at home so hopefully no problems should occur but having not long moved here we cant seem to find legally which fence is ours, it is not marked in our house deeds and have googled how to find out with no avail.
on the left side part of the fence is broken which we will replace although the neighbour that side is our parents and they both have dogs and they all play together so is not much of an issue but the other side has a fence but is quite a low fence and we are worried about them getting over and injuring themselves or making a mess to that garden, we are trying to be responsible but cant afford to fully pay for both sides as its rather a large garden (120ft) so will pay for the side that is ours and offer to make a contributaion of what we have left to pay towards the other side.

i can see your point but from the other side if they had dogs and it was my fence and didnt want the dogs getting in (or the children lol) i would put up a new fence to prevent it.

also both of the fences spport posts are on the nighbours side which would suggest neither of the fences are ours

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i think the best thing for us to do practically is do the side of the neighbour with the short fence first as we can afford one side and just fix the one panel on the other side until we have the money to do the rest as we really dont want our dogs causing a nuisance or getting injured, would just like to add though we are all friendly neighbours so there is no dispute about fences or dogs going on lol
thanks for the replies guys

simontheiceman

This is a question regarding the legal status of dogs and in England this would mean any damage cuased directly by your dog would be technically your responsibility e.g. if it digs a hole in the neighbours lawn or bites the neighbours dog. However... most of this is sorted by mutual commonsense agreement. I have been involved where dog bite attacks have taken the owner of the attacking dog to court - they always win but it costs... Interestingly the status of the cat is different and if the cat causes damage no-one is liable (in England).

LittleMissRolo

I don't know if this applies but i have my dog insured with petplan and she is covered for 3rd party damage to the value of £2m.

Check with the insurance company for your pet insurance. They should be able to give advice

hardpressed

Common-sense says it must be the dog owner's responsibility to keep their dog out of their neighbours garden. A fence is only to mark the boundary. It need only be a single strand of wire. If my neighbour chooses to get a dog then I would expect them to make sure it can't get into my garden.

pboae

It doesn't matter who is responsible for the existing fences, you are responsible for ensuring your dog doesn't wander. If one of the fences does belong to a neighbour and they choose to remove it entirely, it would still be your responsibility to ensure your dog stays in your garden.

If they did go through and cause damage, you would be liable for the damage caused. However, if they just went into the garden and did not cause any damage, there is no equivalent to tresspassing, for a dog (unless you have encouraged it to go over there). It would still be pretty anti social though.

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thanks for the replies

ben500

With regards to the present fences it would appear they belong to the neighbouring properties and should therefore be within their own boundaries, normally you would not be able to make any alterations to these structures, as you have good relationships with the one set and are related to the other it shouldn't be too difficult for you to negotiate the repair rather than replacement. The other obvious alternative is to erect your own means of securing the dogs within the property boundary confines but would be more costly than simply repairing existing measures.